After being thoroughly violated, he ran away with the enemy emperor's child.

The Emperor treated him well. When his mother was ill, she gave him her jade pendant. Although the jade pendant was later replaced by His Majesty, if it weren't for the Emperor, his mother would probably have passed away long ago.

Lu Shu could guess that, given Chen Jun's personality, he certainly wouldn't want his memories to be stripped away like this...

But it was His Majesty who did this.

Lu Shu thought about it for a long time. He squatted in the corner and, in his frustration, plucked all the leaves off the entire plant.

In the middle of the night, he tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall asleep, until dawn broke, still unable to make a decision.

Exhausted, Chu Junci arrived at the main hall of Qiyue Palace. He was still asleep, but Mo Yan had already woken up and needed to attend court today.

"Aci, I'm going to court."

Mo Yan kissed Chu Junci's ear, and even though he knew Chu Junci couldn't hear him, he still promised, "I will come back to be with you soon."

Mo Yan remained standing there after saying those words. His Aci had beautiful eyebrows and full lips, and was simply too beautiful to be real.

Mo Yan's legs seemed to be nailed to the spot, and he was unable to move.

After a long while, he sighed softly and left without looking back.

A short while later, the person on the bed frowned and opened their eyes.

The warmth around me faded; it seemed Mo Yan had been gone for a long time.

He lay there for a while longer, then lifted the curtain: "Someone come here."

"Is Your Majesty about to rise?"

The servant who came to attend to him was a young eunuch whose face looked familiar. Chu Junci quickly remembered that he was the strange-looking man from yesterday.

"What's your name?"

"You lackey, Lu Shu."

"Lu Shu".

Chu Junci silently repeated, "Help me up."

Mo Yan caused a lot of trouble yesterday, and his back is a little sore.

"Yes." Lu Shu gently helped Chu Junci up through his clothes, then lowered his head and helped him sit down on the soft couch.

After sitting down, Chu Junci washed his hands and suddenly said, "Lu Shu, you seem to have something to say to me."

Lu Shu was startled. After pondering for a few seconds, he finally shook his head: "Your Majesty, this servant has nothing to say."

"I must have misread it."

He looked into Lu Shu's eyes, and after a moment asked, "How do you think His Majesty treats me?"

"His Majesty treats the Empress very well. In the two years since his ascension to the throne, the entire harem has consisted of only the Empress. Moreover, His Majesty cherishes the Empress and personally takes care of many daily matters."

"Then how do you think I've treated His Majesty?"

Lu Shu, who had been speaking eloquently, suddenly stammered, nervously clutching his robes: "The Empress... is also extremely good to His Majesty."

He wanted to give some examples, but found none, so he could only hang his head and pretend to be a quail.

His behavior was too unusual, and Chu Junci silently kept it in mind, not making things difficult for him any further: "I understand, you may leave."

"Yes."

Lu Shu sighed and retreated as if fleeing.

Almost immediately after Lu Shu left, Mo Yan appeared at Qiyue Palace.

He was dressed in a dark dragon robe and stepped forward to massage Chu Junci's lower back: "Is your back still sore?"

"A little."

"I failed to control myself last night."

Mo Yan felt a little guilty and patiently massaged the other person's waist. Suddenly, he brought up another matter: "March 20th is my birthday. Aci, remember to give me a gift."

Today is only January 16th, and there are still several weeks until March 20th. Mo Yan brought this up so early, Chu Junci asked, "What do you want?"

"As Ah Ci thinks, I'll like anything Ah Ci gives me."

Since he could remember, Mo Yan had never celebrated his birthday and was not interested in the day. But the thought of A Ci giving him a gift filled him with anticipation for the day.

"Alright," Chu Junci agreed.

Mo Yan is the emperor, he lacks nothing, so we really need to think carefully about what to give him.

After recounting this, Mo Yan lifted his calf and rubbed it, then pinched it upwards: "Does it still hurt?"

"..."

Chu Junci knew what he was asking and shook his head: "It doesn't hurt."

"That's good. I was afraid I might hurt you."

The next moment, he asked the same question again: "What does Aci think of me?"

Last time, Chu Junci's answer was "so-so," and Mo Yan wanted to know how he would respond this time.

"..."

A tacit understanding filled their hearts. Chu Junci remained silent for a moment, and after a long while, he said, "It's acceptable."

It's acceptable, much better than "terrible".

Ever since that first time, Aci's words were deeply imprinted in Mo Yan's heart, making him doubt himself all the time.

"Aci".

He cupped his face, gently kissed his lips, and then pulled away: "I will continue to work hard."

"..."

Chu Junci didn't know what to say, and finally only replied, "Mm."

Compared to him, Mo Yan seemed a bit excited, hugging him and talking for a long time without stopping until he was thirsty.

As darkness falls, assassins infiltrate the silent palace.

He had barely stepped into the palace gates when he was spotted by patrolling guards: "Assassins!"

Quite some time had passed before the news reached Mo Yan's ears: "An assassin?"

He glanced at Chu Junci subconsciously, then walked a little further away and whispered, "Did you come looking for Aci?"

Wu Xu also lowered his voice: "It's still unclear, the assassin escaped."

"They ran away?" Mo Yan frowned.

"Yes, that assassin had excellent lightness skills. He disappeared into the night after being hit by an arrow, and the Imperial Guards haven't found him yet."

Mo Yan pondered for a moment: "Continue the search. Double the manpower outside Qiyue Palace. Don't let Aci notice anything unusual."

"Yes."

After Wu Xu left, Mo Yan returned to the hall and heard Chu Junci ask him, "What happened?"

"no."

Mo Yan remained unfazed: "It's just capturing an assassin, nothing to worry about."

Mo Yan clearly didn't want to say more, and Chu Junci didn't ask any further questions, silently nodding.

In the latter half of the night, Mo Yan held Chu Junci in his arms, the person in his arms already fast asleep, when he heard rhythmic knocking on the window.

Carefully getting off the bed, Mo Yan did not wake the person in bed.

"His Majesty."

After opening the door, Wu Xu said, "The assassin has been caught; he's a familiar face."

"Take me there to see."

"Yes."

The assassin was bound and kneeling outside the gates of Qiyue Palace. Mo Yan's gaze swept over him, and he sneered, "He really is a familiar face."

The person in front of him was one of the five assassins he had let escape last time.

"I spared your life last time, but I didn't expect you to dare to come again."

The assassin sneered and turned his head away without answering.

Do you really think I won't kill you?

To this, the assassin simply said, "Kill me, and when the young master regains his memory, he will remember me forever."

"You wish!"

Mo Yan laughed angrily: "What are you? Why should he remember you forever?"

We should always remember him, and we should remember him as Mo Yan!

"Kill him."

Mo Yan gave the order, then turned to walk back, but stopped a moment later: "Wait."

"Lock him up."

Mo Yan suddenly changed his mind, and no one dared to ask any more questions. They dragged the assassin into the prison and locked him up.

At the same moment, someone slipped through a small window of Qiyue Palace.

The noise woke Chu Junci, who immediately drew a dagger from the bedside table and asked warily, "Who's there?"

"Your Majesty! I have finally met you!"

A suppressed yet excited voice rang out, and Chu Junci stared at the newcomer, instantly stunned.